Patient waiting times at public hospitals and the demand for private care

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)

Start year: 2009

Summary: Reducing public hospital waiting times is the central issue in the Australian health care debate. Subsidies to private health insurance and increased expenditures to shorten waiting times both aim to ease pressure on the public hospital system. However there is no empirical evidence to support the relative equity or efficiency merits of alternative policies. This study will develop an empirical model of expected waiting times and estimate the impact of waiting times on insurance purchase and hospital choice. The model will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative policies to improve access to public hospital care, a key factor in the National Priority of promoting and maintaining good health.